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You are pulling out of your driveway, preparing to drive the same pot-holed path you speed along every day. In your head, you make a list of tasks yet to be accomplished before the sun sets.
You slip into automatic-pilot mode, and assuming you know every bus bench, billboard and telephone pole on your route, you don metaphorical blinders.
Perhaps it is time to see a new Springfield. To do so you need not move to Massachusetts or Tennessee; you need only draw your attention to the city you call home. Look for something new, and you will find it. Look for something beautiful, and you are sure to see it.
Explore your city as if you're a tourist. Go into that boutique that piqued your curiosity two years ago but you're always too busy to check out.
And when your eyes tire and nothing new seems to come into view, borrow someone else's eyes. Ask your friends what their favorite views in Springfield are. Then try to see what they see. And heed the wisdom in Leo Tolstoy's words: "In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you." Your favorite views are waiting to be discovered.
Story published Friday, May 1, 2009 ( Volume 4, Number 3 )
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